Former Victorian premier John Brumby has shared an endearing story of a picnic with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

During the Black Saturday bushfires, Her Majesty requested ongoing updates on the fires. When the updates stopped, months after the tragedy, Mr Brumby received unexpected communication from Buckingham Palace that the Queen wanted the updates to continue.

The Queen invited Mr Brumby to visit her if he was ever in the UK, and later in 2010 he met her at Balmoral, where he picnicked with her at a cottage.

Seven corgis went along with them, and at one point the former premier had to catch some missing dogs!

“We finish the lunch, we all … start cleaning up and she joins in aswell,” he told Ben Fordham.

“She says, ‘we’ll all muck in’.”

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Image: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images/Andrew Matthews – WPA Pool